The Month of Pranks, Spooks, and Other Scares
by Rust-a-Dust
Summary: Halloween is approaching, and everyone remembers what last year was like...the boys, Robin in the lead, gave the girls one night of sheer torture. Raven, however, is going to pull out all the stops to give them a little taste of their own medicine..RaeRob
1. Bats in the Belfry

_Rusty: WELCOME TO THE PIT OF MISERY! As Dusty and I have been split we must now write online, which isn't very easy mind you! So, bear that in mind please . . . I did the editing so if the story has got poor English it's my fault. Well not much more to say except REVIEW OR BE PUNISHED. BWAHAHAHAH!_

_Dusty: Yes, it is extremely difficult! "No, I just wanted you to know how hard it was." LOL sorry...go watch Batman Begins people. I know this is a bit out of season...we got the idea in October but didn't act on it till about a month ago. Updateswill be slow...but we for sure won't update unless we get at least ten reviews, so get busy people!_

* * *

Robin slipped silently into the kitchen, creeping right behind the two female members of the team. "BOO!" he cried out. Starfire jumped startled, Raven's eyes rolled in annoyance. "Good morning team! Do you know what today is?" he continued without a pause, "Today is the first day of October. It is now officially the month of pranks, spooks, and other scares." Placing his hands on the back of Starfire and Raven's chairs he lowered his head between theirs. "We all remember last year don't we?" He winked at the girls. 

Raven slipped into memory. She remember last year; the boys had given her and Star a night of pure terror, running after them through the tower, tricking them into believing that Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy had all died. Yes, she remembered last year.

"Why no, Robin. I think it's slipped my mind. You've only told the story five thousand times in the last three days." Raven glared coldly into her tea.

Across the table Beast Boy and Cyborg burst into infantile giggles, falling to the floor.

This failed to damper the Boy Wonder's spirits. "Five thousand? Has it really been that much? Well then I suppose one more time wouldn't hurt." He smirked, pausing for a reaction.

"Would you define impalement as hurt?" Raven hissed, still refusing to look at him. Beast Boy and Cyborg turned pale, and Robin's smile faltered slightly.

"Impalement? Possibly. Would you be impaling me, or a hologram of me?" Robin's grin became full again.

Refusing to be outdone, Raven spat back, "No . . . for the hologram I would need a tutu, some paper flowers, and, of course, a camera. The impalement was meant for you."

"Well in that case it would hurt, but you'd hate to see me full of spears now wouldn't you? I seem to recall you finding it quite horrific last time."

"Choke on your own tongue and die!" The cup in her hands shattered, spraying tea on everyone but her as she shoved past Robin and stormed from the room.

Robin quickly followed. "Oh, come on, Raven! It wasn't that bad. It happened a year ago and you STILL don't see the humor in it. If you'd just calm down for a minute and think about it then you'd think it was funny too!"

"Oh yes Robin it's ever so funny. Why don't you take your arrogant and twisted sense of humor and stick it where the sun don't shine, because I'm not interested." Raven shut the door in his face, locking it and switching on soundproof mode, an absolutely heaven-sent feature.

Robin blinked, mouth slightly open. "Wow...is she really that mad? I didn't think it would upset her that much..." A few minutes of actual thought later..."Dang that was a jerky thing to do...I'll have to figure out a way to make it up to her." Wondering if Raven liked chocolate or not, he wandered away down the hallway headed for his room.

* * *

**Back in the kitchen**

* * *

Cyborg chuckled, "Man, Robin has really got to quit pushing her buttons like that. One day he could push her just a little to hard and BOOOM!" he demonstrated by using his fork to lift his toast and squish his scrambled eggs into oblivion. 

Beast Boy laughed somewhat nervously, a lighter shade of green than was normal. "Dude...did you see the look on her face? She looked like she wanted to roast his heart on a spit!" He shivered, staring down at his full plate of tofu.

"IT WAS NOT FUNNY!" Star was mad. "You two act as though friend Raven should be happy and laughing when last year you made us think you had died!" Her voice rose to a yell, "PERHAPS THE NEXT TIME WE SEE YOU DEAD WE WILL NOT CARE SO MUCH!" Star left the room, horrified that her friends and teammates could be so careless about the feelings of another good friend.

Beast Boy gaped, then cowered down in his seat, eyes wide. Cyborg's mouth hung open, and several bits of egg and bacon fell back to the plate from whence they came. Time seemed frozen for the space of about five minutes, then... "Hey B, wanna play Game Station?"

* * *

**The pit of despair  
****

* * *

** Sulking in her room, Raven paced back and forth. How could Robin think that she would find seeing someone she loved dead as funny? She had to make him see how hurtful it was or she knew he wouldn't stop, but Raven couldn't see how she could do that. As she approached her bedside table is seemed almost as if the red roses-a gift from Robin-wilted slightly. A strong urge to burn them came over her; after all, there was no reason to keep them with the way he was acting. Or she could send them back to him, half dead. Sure it had been a couple days, but he'd still get the message that she was mad. Giving back what he gave her-that was it! That was how she'd get through to him; give him what he gave her-a nightmare. 

Starfire fumed not-so-silently as she made her way to Raven's room, feeling deeply sympathetic for her friend. Robin was without doubt behaving like the worst Barfnab Garblernelk she had ever had the misfortune of seeing. The un-funny joke was bad enough, but then he had to taunt and tease about it until they had both reached the end of their ropes. Such behavior should not be tolerated. "Raven?" "Friend Raven it is I, Starfire! May I plea--Eek!" she broke off as the door opened and a pale hand grabbed her shirt and jerked her inside.

"I'm glad you came up here." The corner of Raven's mouth went up mischievously. "Starfire, how would you like to get back at the boys for that little prank they pulled last year?"

"Um...Yes?" Starfire was still recovering from the initial shock of being pulled into Raven's room with no warning. It was nothing like the cheerful pink light of her own quarters...

"Good, because I think they should know EXACTLY how we feel about this, and I've begun coming up with a little plan to show them. Will you help me?"

"Um...show them? Friend Raven, I am not sure if I understand you. How will we show them how we felt? Are you proposing a sharing of feelings?" Star perked up at the thought, thinking Raven might be happier if she told Robin how she felt.

"Not quite. I was proposing that we give them a little prank of our own. Of course for it to show them how we feel it would have to be modeled after their own."

Starfire let out a small gasp, staring at the slightly demonic smile on Raven's face with wide eyes. "But Raven, such a thing would be...wrong! We would be as bad as they, should we sink to such a horrendous level! Surely there is some other way--"

"And how do you propose we do that? Tell them that it bothers us? I've told Robin as many times as he's told the story. CLEARLY it's not sinking in."

"Yes, but..." Star bit her lip; she couldn't help but understand where Raven was coming from. The constant harassment was beginning to grate on her nerves to an unbearable point, and every time Robin mocked the way she had cried over their dead bodies...righteous fury boiled inside her. Raven was right; they would not stop unless they were, as Earthlings say, "forced the swallow the medicine of their own making". "How shall we go about this, Friend Raven?"

Raven's demonic smile widened, "I haven't worked out all the details, but one element we must have in our retaliation, is them finding our bodies dead and believing that they are. The only problem is-well that Robin will be expecting a prank of some sort, after all it's Halloween. There exists only one other time when he would be more suspicious of a joke and that's April Fool's day. Do you have any ideas?"

"Um...is it not true that Robin is the strongest point of our team?" Star asked, sitting on Raven's bed and curling her legs up underneath her comfortably.

"Yes. He's the strongest, that's why he is the head of our team, and we all depend on him up to a certain point. It also follows his personality to be the one who would come up with their joke, so called. How in the world will we crack him?" Raven leaned up against the wall and slumped to the ground.

"That is certainly a difficult question, but surely even the bravest of heroes have some fear? Robin is indeed human; therefore he must have a weakness. Perhaps we could...research him?" Starfire proposed, twirling her hair thoughtfully.

"Hmm . . . you're right. We absolutely will have to research him. I can do that fairly easily though, as long as I can force myself to pretend I've forgiven him." Raven sighed, she hated being mad at Robin but this fight would soon be over. "While I look into Robin's fears why don't you try and figure out Cyborg and Beast Boys fears, beyond running out of meat and running into meat."

Starfire smiled at the joke. "I shall do my best, though I am not sure if they fear much else in this world...unless it is perhaps a lack of the butt-kicking?"

Raven smiled at her alien friend. Star was really catching on to things here. "All right. Well I'll go fake an apology for blowing up at breakfast and get things started. We need the information as soon as we can get it so I suggest you start soon also." Raven walked out her door towards Robin's room, her first stop on her quest for revenge.

* * *

**The bird's room

* * *

** Robin jerked his head up in surprise at the knock on his door. Fingers clicking away on the keyboard, he brought up the camera feed from out side his door, then nearly swallowed his gum. "Crap!" he muttered. Having just stepped out of the shower, he was very sparsely dressed. Hurrying into some clothes and fixing his mask into place, he marched over to the door, took a moment to compose himself, then opened it with his trademark cocky grin in place. "Hey, Raven. What's up?" 

Raven knew she had to get this right; if she did the slightest thing wrong, Robin would know something was up and their gag would be blown. "Uh . . . well I wanted to-" she stopped. Raven felt guilty for lying to him, even if it was a little lie and in the end it would go towards the greater good. She had already gotten Starfire involved, why go back now? "I wanted to apologize for blowing up at you this morning. That story is just getting so old, and well . . . it really isn't that funny."

Robin's eyebrow quirked slightly. Raven...apologizing? That was awfully fast, considering she told him to die not two hours ago. Very uncharacteristic...unless of course she just decided she felt bad for it... "No problem...I'm surprised you're apologizing at all, since I was the one being a...well a jerk." Suspicion was almost forgotten as he frowned, rare guilt breaking the surface. "I'm sorry, Rae. It was mean, you're right. I promise I won't ever mention it again." He smiled warmly at her, then took her hand and pulled her out into the hallway.

She had expected her tense stomach to relax with his lack of questions, but instead it tightened. He was being so understanding--how could she go on with the prank?

Smiling dazzlingly, Robin gave her hand a playful tug. "Come on, we're going on a little road trip!"

Her heart skipped a beat, that smile made him look so adorable. She gripped his hand and followed. Had this been a different day, with different event occurring earlier, it would have been perfect. Yet the words exchanged earlier rang threw her mind, saddening her heart.

Robin led her to the garage, taking two helmets off their hooks and handing a dark purple one to Raven. It was, unofficially, hers, while the red one was his favorite. "It's a bit of a ride...so you might want to call up Cyborg and tell him not to wait up." The grin just kept getting wider as he slid into the front and Raven got on behind him.

Raven gave a shy sort of smile as she put on her helmet. "Before I call, may I ask where we're going?"

"Hmm...you absolutely may, but that doesn't mean you'll get an answer." Feeling her tense slightly, he laughed. "It doesn't involve death, pain, or misery. Satisfied?"

"Not really, but I guess I'll see when we get there." After a quick call to Cyborg telling him they were leaving and dodging all questions, she wrapped her arms around Robin's waist and held on.

The drive to Gotham took over an hour, and quite frankly, both of their butts were not far from numb when Robin brought his bike swerving onto the forest path.

"Robin, would you mind telling me where we're going now? If this is another prank I swear-"

"No no no! It's not, I promise! Do you think I like the idea of eating my own liver?" Taking a deep breath, he tried again in a calmer voice. "It's a surprise, but like I said, it doesn't include misery. Quite the opposite, if I'm not too far off here."

Raven's stomach twisted, after his prank last year she really didn't like the idea of going into a forest after he had announced that very day that it was prank time. Well, if it was a prank maybe she guilt him into giving it up. "All right, Robin. I trust you," she said softly, tightening her arms around his waist and leaning against his back.

He swallowed hard, feeling a blush creep into his face despite the frigid breeze. "G...good, that's good Rae..." he mumbled, somewhere up on Cloud 9... That didn't last long, however, as he nearly crashed head-on into a tree. He did his best to keep his head clear after that.

Raven smiled. She was pretty sure that this wasn't a prank, just a little road trip like he said, and relaxed. Teasingly she asked, "So, uh Robin, would you mind watching the road?"

He stuttered unintelligibly, face going from slightly flushed to beet red. Robin was so distracted that he let out a gasp when he realized just how big of an oops he had committed. Batman made him swear that he'd have Raven close her eyes in the forest, and the point for that was very much passed up. "Uh, Rae? Um...you need to um..." He felt so stupid asking this of her, but he had to. "Could you just uh...close your eyes for a while?"

She gazed curiously at the back of his helmet. Reminding herself that she needed to trust him, she closed her eyes.

"Okay, my eyes are closed, but why did I close them?"

"Um..." He dug deep and found a feeble imitation of his usual commanding tone. "Because your leader told you to. Now pipe down and we'll be there in no time."

"Oh," Raven was glad he couldn't see her, and she couldn't see him, that last comment had hurt. "So this is team business?" She chided herself, a little too much of the pain escaped.

Robin's mouth dropped open...there was no turn indicator on that one. "No! Um...I...I was just teasing, Raven!" Geez, couldn't he ever make a joke? Now he had hurt her feelings...ugh things just weren't going to get better tonight were they?

To his relief, at that moment he reached the end of the path, and the small motorcycle zoomed its way into the Batcave. To his relief, at that moment he reached the end of the path, and the small motorcycle zoomed its way into the Batcave.

Raven slowly opened her purple eyes and studied her surroundings carefully. Where in the world had Robin brought her? No doubt if she asked him he'd say I brought you here, so she finished surveying the scene. It was a large cave, with loads of equipment, and a man-a man in a batsuit. A slow smile spread over Raven's face. He had brought her to see his mentor.

Robin helped her off the motorcycle, taking off his helmet to reveal a slightly apologetic frown...before it vanished and he returned to his unemotional state. "Well, we're here."

"Robin, you're finally here!" Batman's voice echoed through the cave as he spoke. Batman walked casually over to the two titans. "You must be Raven, nice to meet you." He extended his hand.

She shook it, "Nice to meet you too."

Robin forced a smile, then remembered why this was a bad idea. He didn't like the Batcave, never had, never would. Jumping a little as a high-pitched shriek echoed through the room, he cast a wary glance upward.

Batman noticed Robin's wary look. "Yeah Robin, I know bats are bad luck indoors. I can't believe that you believe in all that superstitious mumbo jumbo. If you haven't notice my luck has been just fine."

Raven stared. Robin was superstitious. Since when?

Robin snorted loudly at that last comment, earning a disapproving look from Bruce. "So I don't like flying rodents as much as you do. What does it matter?" He was beginning to wonder why he had come here...was making Raven happy worth this? ...Was she even happy?

Raven removed her helmet and faced Robin, her smile still in place. "I didn't know that you were superstitious. Hmm . . . you really do learn something new everyday."

Batman listened to the silence for a minute or so, then began again, "So Robin, what's the special occasion. I actually get to meet one of your team mates." Bruce was laughing on the inside, what fun was it being someone's father figure if you didn't get to embarrass them once in a while.

Robin's face turned instantly firecracker red, and he glared daggers at his mentor. There was absolutely nothing to say to that question...ooh he was gonna kill him, kill kill kill!

Batman was amused by Robin's facial expresion. "This visit wouldn't have anything to do with that would it?" Behind Batman's twisted jokes, there was an actual amount of curiosity. He knew that Robin would never bring anyone to visit again-but it may just be worth it.

Raven was horrified. What exactly was this man suggesting?

Robin's hands balled into fists, his jaw clenched, and his face went from bright red to pale green all in the space of five seconds. He didn't trust himself to open his mouth, even if he had wanted to say something.

Feeling slightly sorry for his behavior after seeing Robin's new color, Batman decided to see if he could redeem the visit. "Well excuse me for being a bit blunt but I hope you can see why I'm not sure what the intentions of this visit are."

Robin scowled. So now this was all his fault. "If it was a PROBLEM, you could have SAID SOMETHING ON THE PHONE!" he yelled, fumbling for his helmet and handing Raven hers. "I should have known this was a stupid idea, coming back here. Don't worry, I'll be gone and out of your hair again--" Turning the keys in the ignition, his eyes widened, then squeezed shut as it gave a weak cough and stopped. No gas.

"There wasn't a problem, just after you hung up I started thinking about your last few visits and I couldn't really think of a reason why you'd be coming. I don't see you as often as I use to, so I don't really know what kind of person you've become and I can only hope -" he stopped. "You know where the gas is, feel free to use some. If this visit hasn't made you hate me forever, well the I guess I'll talk to you later." Bruce turned and headed up the stairs towards his house talking softly-at least in his mind- to himself. "He wasn't here that long, he probably didn't learn anything from me. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing. Only thing he could've learned from me would be exactly what I was suspicious of, and that is one thing I definitely don't want him to become. . . . "

"And you say I'm the one who always walks away." Robin, though he had no clue why, was starting to feel...guilty for yelling at Bruce. The way he said that last bit was almost...sincere? Maybe he really was just concerned for his well-being...but how could he think something like that?

Batman just kept walking, "Well I've said a lot of things. Apparently most of them are wrong. I've got a big meeting tomorrow so I'm going to bed. Buh bye now."

Robin stared open-mouthed for a moment, then glared. So like Bruce, to just give the guilt trip then walk away and let him boil in it. In no time the bike had a full tank of gas and he and Raven were burning rubber. That was the absolute worst date in existence, including a certain Halloween prank.

* * *

**_REVIEW!_**


	2. Bat Whisperer

9/30/05 2:55 A.M. Rusty here! You all better be greatful for this, I stayed up till 2:50 A.M. typing it up, even though I didn't lose the bet! -tries to make Dusty feel supremely guilty- hm . . . this was definately an odd end to an odd birthday but I decided to keep my promises to Dusty for once . .. Anyway, enjoy it while it lasts, if our homework keeps up it will be harder than impossible to write the next chapter, so send us slaves to do our howework for us!

Dusty: Mach Schnel! Or...w/e weird thing our precalc teacher shouted at us the other day.

* * *

Robin sped into the Titan's garage, stopping so closely to the wall, Raven closed her eyes preparing for impact. He wrenched his helmet off and threw it to the ground. " . . . Absolute waste of time . . . surprised he wasn't in his underwear . . . stinking bats . . . " Robin mumbled on. 

It took him a moment to realize that Raven was not sympathetic, as he expected her to be, but was instead laughing her butt off. "What's so freakin' funny?"

She took off her helmet. As she handed it to him, she hiccupped violently. "Sorry, it seems I've got the hiccups."

Robin glared. "That was the first hiccup I heard."

"Well, why do you have such a violent attitude towards bats? It's not like they're going to change into a vampire and bite you."

He opened his mouth to argue, then shut it with a snap, a determined look on his masked face. "I just don't like them. Besides, I'm in more danger from you in that way. That would explain your unnatural pallor." Ah, diversionary tactics.

Raven's smile faded as she decided if Robin was teasing her or if he was mad. She preferred to believe the first. "If you'll step over here I'll show you just how much danger you're in."

Robin choked on his witty reply, steadily turning red as his eyes got wider and wider. Bruce's words flashed in his mind-No! Defiance flared inside him, and suddenly, he would have liked nothing more than to do exactly what Bruce didn't want him to do. "Danger?" His voice was surprisingly calm, relaxed. "What kind?"

Raven hesitated for a moment, the possibility that she could lose control frightened her, but she was also scared that if she let this opportunity go by then she would never get it again. She took a step, closing the gap between them. Before anymore thoughts could affect her decision, she pressed her lips against his.

Robin's eyes closed behind the mask, his hands moved of their own accord, snaking around her waist and pulling her against him. Exhilaration tingled through him as he deepened the kiss, enjoying the feeling of her fingers in his hair and oblivious to the explosions all around them. He resisted with all his might when she pulled away.

The half-demon had enjoyed the moment tremendously, but she didn't know how much more the tower could take. How could she ever have been mad at Robin? He was so kind, thoughtful . . . he even trusted her enough to introduce her to Batman. It was just a prank, and well she was just a little upset about it, and it was understandable-he was pretending to be dead. Sure it was rude, evil, and absolutely HORRID! Oh, she wanted to slap him-but no. Raven had a plan, and she'd stick to it. Star was surely doing her part, and from Robin's facial expression, he clearly would tell Raven just about anything, so now was the best time for her to do her part. Yet, what should she ask him about? It would be so much simpler if he had parents that she could get information from... That was it! "So, Robin," she started sweetly, "how do you get a hold of Batman?"

"Batman?" His head was buzzing pleasantly, his breathing fast and hard. Robin couldn't see why she was asking about him now, all he wanted was Raven. "Phone . . . " He leaned in to recapture her lips . . .

She allowed him to kiss her briefly, he had to stay happy through this. "Would you mind giving me the number?"

Robin nodded absently, trying to clear his head enough to remember it . . . there were a lot of sevens . . . "934-787-1749." There, he couldn't think of why it mattered, but the important thing was she had what she wanted and they could get back to what he wanted. The kiss from Raven was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and all he wanted was for it to never end.

As Robin leaned in again Raven stepped aside, making him fall awkwardly. "Well, thank you for the lovely evening, Robin. See you in the morning."

For a moment, he just stared after her, utterly bewildered. Why did she leave? She must have been enjoying it, too . . . but what if she wasn't? His stomach lurched unpleasantly, then he considered going after her . . . until his eyes met the utter destruction all around him. He cursed loudly as his eyes fell on a twisted smoking mass with a red and a purple helmet lying on the ground beside it. "MY BIKE!" he yelled, gripping his head in anguish.

And that's when it hit him. What had he done? What was he thinking? Had he lost his mind? This was bad . . . this was very bad. Bruce was right, he couldn't control himself! What if—

Robin staggered to his room , locking the door and taking a very long shower.

* * *

Her room was so quiet, just what she needed to plan her evil deeds. Star was supposed to be joining her. They were going to compile their findings, seeing what they had, and planning for the next day. Raven knew she had to convince Batman to help her, but she was still working on how. Ah, a knock, Star was there. "Come in, Star."

Starfire beamed like a two year old asked to keep a secret yet dying to share. "Hello, Friend Raven. Have you had any success with our leader?" She was letting Raven go first, although it was clear that she was bursting to share her information.

"I'm beginning to get a lead, but I haven't made much progress." Raven glanced at Star, she clearly _had_ gotten something, "Did you have any luck?"

Star grinned widely. "Friend Raven, I most certainly did experience luck! I now am quite certain what Friend Beast Boy feels the most terror for!"

"And what is that?"

"The men of the circus! They are called . . . " She let out a sigh of frustration, desperately searching for the word.

"Acrobats? Clowns? Dwarves? Contortionists?"

"Clowns! Yes, the men with happy faces!" She giggled quietly, hand pressed over her mouth. "I do not understand why he should fear something so cheerful, since he so enjoys making the jokes. This is . . . ironic?"

Raven was momentarily shocked. It seemed as though Star was adapting to Earth and the English language quite well. "Yeah, it is."

Starfire smiled, pleased that she had located the correct word. "I shall begin work on Friend Cyborg tomorrow, and I am hopeful that I shall be successful with him as well. Oh!" Star said, a look of curiosity on her face, "What did you discover about Robin?"

"Well, uhm-he seems to be uncomfortable around bats, but that's all really. I'm going to find out more tonight. Hm, we should probably keep a record of our findings, just to be sure we don't forget." Raven reached in her drawer until she found a lavender book with the word 'Journal' across it in cursive. "Here," she said throwing it to Starfire, "Write it down."

Starfire caught the book with surprising ease, taking the pen that Raven offered and jotting down their findings in neat, curly writing, tongue between her teeth in concentration.

"I am afraid I am feeling the call of the man of sand. I bid you goodnight, Friend Raven, and good luck with your studying of our Boy Wonder."

"Oh, well, sweet dreams, Star." Raven escorted Star to the door, closing it and locking it. She reached for her phone, but stopped, remembering that she hadn't meditated that day. Her prank was important, yet Raven would not let it blind her to what was truly important. She'd just have to call Batman afterwards, maybe if he was really tired he'd agree to get her to go away.

Raven settled into her famous cross-legged, hovering position and began chanting.

* * *

Titans Tower was quiet. Raven was meditating, Cyborg was recharging, Starfire was breathing evenly to the sound of her classical cd, Beast Boy was dreaming of tofu, and a certain Boy Wonder was tossing in his bed, visions of purple eyes swimming through his dreams.

* * *

Finished with her meditating, Raven glanced at the clock. Four o'clock, rats. She could call Batty, or get a few hours rest . . well, she could always sleep that afternoon. It was time to call the ol' Bat. She suspected that he didn't sleep, but secretly Raven hoped that she could disrupt his rest, his commments still fresh in her mind. 

BRING! BRING!

Bruce was slightly surprised to have the phne ringing; after all, who would be calling him? Robin wouldn't be through with the silent treatment this soon, would he? Picking up the reciever, he said, in a neutral tone, "State your name and business."

"Your sidekick's pregnant girlfriend, and revenge."

Bruce blinked, slightly surprised. He had to admit, the girl was witty. "Raven, pleasure speaking to you again. I see I'm not the only night owl out there."

"You didn't seem that pleased earlier. Something change your mind in less than 12 hours? Because for a man I think that would set a record."

Ok, maybe biting would be a better word. "I thought my conduct was excellent, considering the short notice I recieved and the foul mood that my "sidekick" arrived in. However, if you called to tell me I'm a rude old man, I do have an appointment in-" he checked his watch, "two and a half hours."

"Well that's not much time but I'm sure I can manage to fit it all in. May I inquire as to what Robin has done in the past to deserve such behavior?"

"I could give you a list, but that would take much longer than two and a half hours." Bruce rubbed his temples with his free hand; something that not many people pushed him to do. He found himself wishing he had not incurred the wrath of Robin's ferociously fanatical minion. "Perhaps you could narrow it down a bit?"

"Why would you think I was pregnant, or even think we'd slept together at all?"

"Because I know what teenage boys are like, having been one."

Raven was speechless, or was she? "So you _were_ a teenage boy? Wow, and now you just act like one?"

Bruce gritted his teeth : yet another extremely rare sign of anger. "Is there a point to this conversation?"

"Do you recall the opening of it?"

His frustration peaked. "Do YOU recall that I have an appointment in, now, 2 hours?"

"Do I care?"

Bruce sighed, wondering why on earth he was even bothering to talk to her for this long. "You know what? There's medication for this type of thing. I would suggest sleeping pills." He moved to hang up none too gently . . .

"DO NOT HANG UP ON ME!"

Bruce considered for a moment, then, against his better judgement, raised the phone to his ear again.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

"Because I know exactly where Robin is sleeping, and you don't want to know what will happen if I lose my temper. Once again, do you recall the beginning of the conversation?"

Bruce chuckled quietly. "And I'm suppose to believe you would hurt your precious boyfriend?"

"I didn't say I'd hurt him."

Seeing that this conversation was going nowhere until he answered her question, Bruce decided to give in, for sanity's sake. "I 'recall' some childish babble about revenge."

"And what did you assume I meant by that?"

He had officially decided that he did not like this girl in the least bit. "That you were going to attempt to make me 'suffer' for whatever wrong you feel I've commited against your significant other."

"I see you fail to mention me in that. Oh well, never mind your cruelty to us last night. You are vain aren't you? I was actually refering to Robin when I mentioned revenge, hoping you could help me."

This awakened his curiosity, and his interest, not to mention drowned out her insults. "Now isn't this interesting. What exactly did he do to deserve punishment, Raven?"

"I don't think the details matter very much," she had his attention, now if she could only get him totally interested, "I'm just wondering if you'd be willing to help me return a little prank he pulled about a year ago."

Bruce laughed a little at this, a small smile curving his lips. Ah, pranks. Robin had been full of them his entire stay at Wayne Manor. "That depends on how I would benefit from helping you. Last time I checked, it's best not to insult the person you need assistance from."

Oh no! Raven hadn't thought of this, what would Batman get? "Perhaps you didn't know this, but what you did last night wouldn't be considered very nice. You'd benefit because I wouldn't be angry at you, believe me, you wouldn't like me angry, just ask Robin what his bike looks like."

Bruce smiled, "You ruined the R-cycle? That would certainly go under the category of 'not very nice'. I helped him build that damn thing!" He stroked his chin, settling into an armchair with the reciever pressed to his ear. "Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll decide if I want to help after I know what the conditions are."

"Oh, it's nothing much really." Raven tried to sound innocent, "I was just wondering, well for starters, could you tell me why he's afraid of bats?"

An eyebrow quirked suspiciously. "Hmm . . . I don't know. That would be a breech of Robin's trust. What does that have to do with your plan anyway?" All right, so in his mind he had already decided to help her . . . but that didn't mean he had to make it easy for her.

"Well I'm just curious about that, I don't know that it has much to do with my plan." Raven prayed Batman would believe her, after this conversation she wasn't so sure that he'd help her.

"Do you want baby photos as well?" His amusement escaped into his tone, a sligtly mocking hint to the words.

"Well I have to admit I'm interested in seeing the photos, but they wouldn't help me exactly." She sighed. "I guess I'll let you know what is going on, but if you laugh at what he did I swear I'll find some way to torture you." Raven took a long breathe. "Last Halloween he trashed the tower to make Star and I think that someone had gotten in. The lights were out and everyting was a wreck. We tried to find the boys but they weren't answering us, and when we found them-" Raven paused here, the images of their mangled bodies flashing in her eyes, "Robin had made them all appear to be dead."

Bruce blinked, slightly surprised. "Well I'm not entirely surprised, though he's certainly gotten more creative since the salt in the sugar bowl days." Smiling shrewdly he said his next words in a thoughtful tone. "Slightly risky way to find out if you had feelings for him, or one of the other boys. So, now I suppose you want to get him back?"

"Well, it wouldn't have been so awful if he wouldn't have reminded us at least once a week ever since. He was covered in blood and . . . and--" the image was far too real, and far too painful, "I wouldn't do it, but he just doesn't seem to get why it was so awful! He's got to understand that I couldn't--er, we just couldn't stand seeing him--uh, them dead."

Bruce smiled at her stutters, vaguely recalling what his first crush had been like. He had done similar stupid things, though perhaps not as extravagent as Robin's prank. "Well, the answer to that question is fairly simple, Raven."

He paused letting her think it over for a moment. "He doesn't know how much you care about him. He's insecure, that much is obvious.. For one reason or another, he's looking for constant reassurance, in any form possible, from you. Now his methods--" he shook his head, "simply reflect his utter stupidity in this subject."

Raven chuckled a bit, perhaps Batman wasn't so bad. "I know something's got to be done, so I'm ready to return the prank, even though it was horrid. The problem is, Robin doesn't scare easy, and he'll be expecting something on Halloween, so I thought I'd let it build up through the month. I just don't know of anything that he's afraid of, which is why I thought you could help me." Raven reprimanded herslf silently, she'd allowed herself too near sounding desperate.

Bruce almost laughed aloud at her utter lack of reponse to his undoubtedly brilliant revelation of Robin's quirks. Shaking it off, he said, "So I see you still want to torture him. Hm . . . he has a fear of broccoli, does that help?" The smirk spread across his face. Perhaps he was enjoying this a little too much.

"Hm, broccoli, yes, I'm sure that will do wonders to break his spirit, but I'm afraid if I gave him broccoli he'd eat it assuming I was trying to be kind." Raven couldn't believe him, in her opinion he was not only making fun of her plan, but he was trying to make her feel guilty about it. "Oh, why did you have to bring up that I actually care about the rude, little slug? Do you know how hard it is to plot against someone you care about!"

"Amazingly, yes. I certainly wasn't attempting to arouse your guilt, I think you did that yourself. Alright, alright, I'll stop playing with your mind. Besides, that's probably a dangerous activity to engage in with an empath, now that I think of it."

He thought for a moment, then said, slowly and thoughtfully, "Robin's fears . . . you're right in saying that he doesn't fear much, and what he does fear he works himself into the ground trying to hide." Bruce chuckled softly, losing himself in the irony of it all.

"So, do you have anyting that would help me? Anything at all?" She really wanted the information because the sooner she had it, the sooner she could make her plans.

"He's superstitious. So superstitious, in fact, that I sometimes wonder how he convinces himself to breathe." He laughed. "Oh, and bats aren't the worst of it. There's a certain way he has to sleep, which shoe he puts on first, how his clothes are before he puts them on, everything you could possibly imagine. If even the tiniest thing goes wrong, he comes unglued. Trust me, I speak from experience."

"Superstitious? You mean black cats for bad luck and that dumb stuff? You're not serious, are you?" Raven's hopes of finding Robin's fears rose, but it was so ridiculous that she was sure Batman was lying.

Bruce laughed softly, running a hand through his hair and checking the grandfather clock. 5:47. Just over an hour utnil he had to be in his seat at Wayne Enterprises. "I understand your skepticism. I sometimes find it hard to believe myself, but yes, I'm talking about black cats and ladders . . . though it's infinitely more intense than that. He once yelled at me for turning a loaf of bread upside down, said it would bring 'horrible bad luck'." Listening to her disbelieving silence for a moment, he said, "Ironic, I know, since he faces villains with hardly a flinch."

"That is actually insane enough that I almost believe it. Thankfully it's simple enough to test without doing much; I'll just put 13 slices of toast out for breakfast today and see if he notices, or something like that. Well, thank you for your help, if you think of anything else please let me know. Enjoy your seven o'clock meeting."

"I will. But one more question before you go." His voice grew stern now, amazed that she had distracted him for this long."How did you get Robin to give you this number? I made him swear on pain of death to keep it absolutely private."

Rave grew red, gaining a deeper appreciation for the privacy of her bedroom. "Uh . . . well he didn't exactly give it to me willingly . . . I may have tricked him slightly . . . or distracted him immensely . . ." she was certainly thankful for the lack of a video screen. "Anything else?"

Bruce grinned this time. Holding back all the creative little jabs that had come flooding to his mind, he settled for merely sounding supremely amused. "No, I think that's it. Just don't give it to the green elf, or the alien. Oh, and Raven?" Well . . . almost settled. "Don't distract him too much,or he could end up daydreaming when he should be fighting." With that he hung up the phone and had a good laugh. Oh what he would give to see Robin's face when all of this was through.

Raven set down the phone as soon as she heard the click on the other end. She was sure that she had a fever, her face had never felt so warm. Why did she even answer that last question? A noise from below indicated that Star was awake, but Raven saw her cheeks and ears flushed scarlet and decided she should wait a few minutes to share the findings. She settled instead, for sitting on her bed and recording Robin's fears and her ideas of torture in the "Journal".

* * *

Dusty: BWAHAHAHA! Now all the superstitions mentionedare genuine; Rusty and I did extensive research on the subject, and that was just a taste of our findings. Like the rusted one said, it will be darn near impossible to update quickly at all, but dont think we've given up until you see the little "Given UP!" flags posted all over the place. Review on pain of death!


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